Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Moody Blues, The
Label: Decca Records
Released: 1969
Length: 40:15
Rating: 4.5/5
The Moody Blues, the legendary forefathers of progressive rock, were living through their greatest artistic bloom in the late sixties, with innovative musical ideas popping up one after another and a major influence on plenty of rock acts of their day, especially back home on British soil. These one-of-a-kind masters of fusing gorgeous orchestral-acoustic arrangements with mighty vocal harmonies, and keepers of a finely honed sense of melody, hit one of the peaks of their career with this record. “To Our Children’s Children’s Children” was also the first album after founding their own label, Threshold Records (named after the previous album, released the same year), and the fourth in the run of classic Moody Blues albums that built their reputation as pioneers of early progressive rock.
True to their usual tradition, they carried on with it a string of superb concept albums, a streak kicked off with the cult “Days Of Future Passed” (1967). This time the topic was the endlessly grateful one of space flight, which space rock champions Pink Floyd in particular had already thoroughly popularized within prog and psychedelia by then, while Hawkwind burst onto the scene that very year with their studio debut. And of course, let’s not forget the eternal chameleon David Bowie and his unforgettable classic “Space Oddity”. Some of the lyrics tie into the Moon landing, pulled off successfully that same year by the Apollo 11 mission, which naturally had a far-reaching impact on countless musicians of the time, while a few lyrical concepts deal with children and how they see the world, or rather, the world situation of the day.
Sonically, the Moodies stuck to their winning recipe, building individual arrangements on mighty orchestral curtains, usually the work of keyboardist and occasional singer Mike Pinder’s Mellotron. The album also makes frequent use of the technique of layering echoing motifs on top of each other, which made playing individual tracks from this record live extremely demanding, so it only rarely found its way into their stage repertoire. This time the authors of the most appealing songs, the ones written in gold letters among The Moody Blues evergreens, were guitarist/vocalist Justin Hayward and bassist/vocalist John Lodge, a sort of overture to their successful songwriting partnership, which the two would seal in 1975 with a very good joint album, “Blue Jays”.
Many tracks on “To Our Children’s Children’s Children” rank among their most accomplished atmospheric creations and the loveliest examples of symphonic, psychedelic and rock elements blending harmoniously at the turn of the sixties into the seventies. The overture to the album is “Higher and Higher”, which opens with the sound effect of a rocket launch and keeps up the tradition of spoken-word openers. Its author is, somewhat surprisingly, drummer Graeme Edge, who also wrote most of the recitations, even though they were usually read out by keyboardist Pinder. The inspiration for the lyrics comes from the 1969 Moon landing. The energetic recitation rides over plenty of dramatic vocal harmonies, sparkling guitar phrases and mighty waves of Mellotron. “Eyes of a Child” is split into two separate parts. The first is an ethereal, melancholic ballad with gorgeous orchestral arrangements and a gentle acoustic guitar melody. The lyrics tell of a child’s perception of the Moon landing and the meaning it will have for the future of the human race. The second part moves at a much more energetic, faster tempo, while the main acoustic guitar melody stays the same.
Between the two halves of “Eyes Of a Child” sits “Floating”, a goofy little children’s song with a playful lyric about organized family trips to the Moon somewhere in the distant future. This kind of cheeky number, packed with classic English humor, was the trademark of flutist Ray Thomas, its author and singer. Hayward’s one-minute pastoral ballad “I Never Thought I’d Lived to Be a Hundred” is about a person who suddenly realizes that, at the end of life’s road, they’ve managed to achieve every goal they set for themselves. Its follow-up is “I Never Thought I’d Lived to Be a Million”, which has the same lyrics, only referring to a million years lived. The solid but short instrumental “Beyond”, mixing psychedelic and folk-rock embellishments, features lots of “choppy” intervals, recorded using overdubbing techniques. With “Out And In”, where the ethereal harmony between the vocal melody, gentle guitar passages and the waves of Mellotron enchants, comes the first of the album’s peaks, showcasing the main strengths of the unusual Edge-Pinder songwriting duo.
Hayward’s phenomenal songwriting achievement “Gypsy (Of Strange And Distant Time)” can easily be declared the best piece on the album and a classic of symphonic prog rock. Besides his delightful laying down of romantic chords over dramatic waves of Mellotron and a stirred-up rhythm line, the legendary guitarist also shines with outstanding singing, peaking in an infectiously melodic chorus, which makes it easy to guess why he was always the most prized singer of all the band’s members. The lyrics are rather sad and fit the melancholic mood perfectly, telling of an astronaut condemned to travel through space forever with no chance of ever coming home. “Eternity Road”, with its allegorical lyrics about space as an endless road where nobody knows what lies beyond the next bend, is, thanks to its composer and singer Ray Thomas, once again a somewhat more pastoral piece with a typically English atmospheric touch, plenty of orchestral and acoustic embellishments and a frisky tempo.
On the romantic ballad “Candle Of Life”, where seductive orchestral arrangements and a gorgeous combination of acoustic guitar chords reign supreme, Hayward and Lodge both take over the vocals and carry out their mission with distinction. The psychedelic “Sun Is Still Shining”, where Hayward also tries his hand at the sitar, following the tradition of the “quiet” Beatle George Harrison, has optimistic lyrics about the harmonious bond between Earth and the Sun. The closing classic “Watching and Waiting” came out as the album’s only single, but despite its Mellotron arrangement being akin to the one on their most beloved classic “Nights In White Satin”, it flopped completely commercially. Public reaction aside, it’s yet another excellent piece in classic Hayward melodic style, brimming with mighty Mellotron expanses built around a gentle acoustic melody and Hayward’s heart-wrenching singing.
“To Our Children’s Children’s Children” is one of the key albums that sculpted symphonic progressive rock, and at the same time it had a considerable influence on the development of the experimental as well as the popular music scene of the seventies. One of the artistic peaks of this legendary band, who in the decades to come even got to see space expeditions start listening to their music for company (mostly “Nights In White Satin”, of course), it was also hugely successful commercially and added to the wider popularization of progressive rock. By the time it came out, with the rise of bands like King Crimson, Genesis, Van Der Graaf Generator and Yes, the Moodies admittedly were no longer among the biggest innovators in the prog rock scene, but they were still one of the most reliable guarantors of top quality and consistency.
Lineup
Justin Hayward – vocals, guitar, sitar
John Lodge – vocals, bass guitar
Ray Thomas – vocals, flute, tambourine
Graeme Edge – drums, percussion
Mike Pinder – vocals, Mellotron, organ
Production
Tony Clarke
Track list
1. Higher And Higher
2. Eyes Of A Child I
3. Floating
4. Eyes Of A Child II
5. I Never Thought I’d Live To Be A Hundred
6. Beyond
7. Out And In
8. Gypsy
9. Eternity Road
10. Candle Of Life
11. Sun Is Still Shining
12. I Never Thought I’d Live To Be A Million 13. Watching And Waiting
